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Township enacts new by-law for food trucks · North Shore News

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  Loyalist Township Council voted to enact a new bylaw for food trucks in the area.
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  The bylaw will see a merit-based system implemented for determining permit allocation and a no
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  more limit on the number of trucks per park.
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  On April 9th, Council directed staff to review the bylaw considering added protection to
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  associated businesses and the allocation of park permits.
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  Public and stakeholder consultation was conducted from October 25th to November 18th through
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  a survey that saw 289 respondents.
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  Based on the input, staff chose to implement a park permit allocation system that gives
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  weight to the applicant's experience, the quality of their proposal, the food diversity
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  seen on their menu, and their contributions to the community.
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  The bylaw will also expand the number of park permits available.
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  Currently, the Township has three parks available to lease for refreshment vehicle operators.
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  Fairfield Park, Finkelshore Park, and Bath Centennial Park.
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  Previously, there was only one refreshment vehicle permitted for each park.
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  The new bylaw does not include this limitation.
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  Staff have also identified Babcock Mills as a fourth suitable location and would be working
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  through the year to identify any others.
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  Staff are making a new application form and would receive applications until December
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  31st each year.
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  Councilor Lorna Willis, who opposed enacting the new bylaw at this time, noted policies
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  from other municipalities.
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  I looked at policies in some of our surrounding communities and they have exemptions that
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  are, I think, quite practical for things like not-for-profit groups.
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  I know on Amherst Island, the Women's Institute has a coffee cart that they often bring to
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  events and I don't think they ever make more than $20.
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  They wouldn't be really wanting a license and I know that service groups often have popcorn
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  vehicles and things like that.
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  In other municipalities, those not-for-profits and service groups are exempt.
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  They've also specified exemptions for people under a certain age because lemonade stands
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  happen and things like that.
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  So I think that we might want to give some consideration to that.
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  Willis noted her concerns with the merit-based system.
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  We're asking, we're determining what menu diversity and innovation is and one of the
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  things is you get the most points if you have menu items that come from multiple continents.
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  So a Thai food truck or a Mexican food truck is going to score very lowly even though that
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  might be a very popular addition to the township.
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  And also I noticed that we're looking for, we're giving highest points for trucks that
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  are sourcing 51% of their ingredients locally and I have experience in food services and
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  51% is a very high number for buying locally.
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  Basically, if you sell coffee, you're not going to get those points because we don't
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  grow coffee in the area.
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  So I'm just, I'm concerned that this needs another, another run through.
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  Councillor Paul Proderick showed his support for the merit-based system but noted one
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  difficult aspect.
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  The fact that it's a merit-based system, I think we have to stick to that.
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  That's the only way to do business as far as I'm concerned, as far as the menu, I guess
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  that's a tough one.
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  The market often will drive the menu and let's face it, people who are at the sous chef or
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  wherever are often going from A to B and maybe in a hurry but you know, again, people with
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  experience in the food services industry would probably, I hope, agree that it's hard
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  to dictate, you know, what you can buy and where you can buy it but again, giving credit
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  to those who have been in the community for a number of years with their vehicles and
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  providing jobs for the teenagers probably in the summer and things like that.
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  I think the merit system is the way we go.
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  Owner and operator of Soup Chef at Fairfield Park in Amherstview, Manette Boudreau, explained
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  one of her concerns about the draft by-law.
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  Section 5.6 says that the operators of the park permits are responsible for waste removal
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  each day now.
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  I'm not sure how you regulate that because everyone uses the garbages in the park.
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  People come with food from other food premises in Amherstview, food from Kingston, people
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  at picnics in the park.
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  So I don't know how that would be discerned whose garbage was whose for us to dispose
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  of at the end of the day.
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  So I was a little bit concerned about that in the proposal.
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  Director of Community and Customer Services, Laurie McFarland, explained how garbage collection
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  would work.
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  In terms of the waste management concerns that were brought up, so the intent is that
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  a receptacle near the refreshment vehicle would be the responsibility of the owner of
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  the refreshment vehicle and that there wouldn't be any waste associated with the vehicle.
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  So potato peelings or garbage that is generated by the vehicle that could be permitted to
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  be put into the other waste receptacles within the park, but that the township staff would
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  continue to pick up the waste from the receptacles within the park outside of the area where
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  the refreshment vehicle operates.
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  Fudrow also brought up a possible amendment.
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  Another thing was 7.9 says that no one applicant can have more than one permit.
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  So to me that says that if, say Babcock mill, there's no one in that position at the moment.
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  Let's say no one applies for that.
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  Could Scott, if he was at Finkel or I was at Fairfield, could we not operate a second
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  truck in that spot?
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  Because according to this it says we can't.
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  So I'm just wondering if that could be amended to maybe in case someone wants to operate
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  more than one in a spot that isn't being used at the moment.
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  If there isn't a huge demand then maybe someone could operate more than one.
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  Conta Raja explains the situation regarding multiple permits and the township's choice
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  of wording.
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  Regarding the number of park permits as per section 7.9 of the draft bylaw, it does say
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  that one park permit per operator, but then it also says that if there's vacancies in
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  park locations, then subsequent park permits would be issued if that's the desire of the
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  applicant.
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  The reason that we have it written this way is because we want to make sure that there's
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  diversity in food options in the community and obviously not create a monopoly for one
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  operator over others.
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  Conta Raja went on to explain how the selection process would work for applicants in search
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  of multiple permits.
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  The operators can apply for, through the application process can indicate their preferred part
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  of the park locations and if there are multiple applicants looking to establish their vehicles
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  at the same park location then we would use the scoring system.
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  Then the person or the applicant that scores the highest using the scoring system would
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  be given their number one pick.
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  Then we would make sure that all the applicants who have applied for the park locations are
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  granted a park location if we have any available and then we would start allocating the second
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  park permits for the operator.
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  Willis made a note about taxes.
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  I did look at what the property taxes are for some of the stand alone food service locations
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  bricks and mortar in the township and in a couple of cases those taxes aren't much higher
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  than what the food trucks are paying in fees and the food trucks are also providing employment
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  in the township so I think we need to be careful of disrespecting one type of business for
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  another type of business.
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  Willis went on to question one of the exemptions in the draft by law.
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  It says that a license is not required for a refreshment vehicle operating on township
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  and or private property and zones permitted under the zoning bylaw for a period of not
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  more than three days in the calendar year with a valid license from another municipality
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  within Kingston, South Frontenac or county of Lenox and Addington.
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  Other policies that I've seen just refer to a valid license from another municipality
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  because we're not identifying Napa Nii here for example.
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  There may be vehicles that come from Gannonokway that come to the area for a period of time
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  so just leaving it just another municipality may be something to consider.
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  Willis went on to question a distance limitation and the wording chosen regarding the types
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  of businesses.
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  The 100 meter distance, how did, or 120 meter distance from another food service and a couple
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  of things with that.
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  I'm wondering why 120 meters, why did we determine that that's the right amount and also that
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  you said that you've removed the condition that they be selling similar products.
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  So you know for example a hamburger truck outside of a pizza place is not selling the
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  same thing so what are we trying to protect there.
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  Township clerk Ann Kantharaja explained the choices staff made and how they've changed
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  the wording for the final form of the bylaw.
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  The 120 meter rule came from the existing refreshment vehicle bylaw which states that
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  no refreshment vehicle should operate within 120 meters of the business selling similar
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  products just paraphrasing.
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  The reason, so that's where the 120 meter rule came from.
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  The current bylaw has that additional phrase within businesses that sell similar products
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  and what staff are proposing right now is to remove that last phrase because it is subjective
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  and this year in 2024 we were faced with some concerns on the interpretation of that phrase
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  as the staff and members of the public interpreted that phase very differently and this is going
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  back to the motion passed by council in April asking staff to review the current bylaw to
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  protect existing businesses that employ residents and provide tax revenue.
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  Councillor Carroll Parks showed her support for enacting the new bylaw.
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  I brought this originally forward as a motion to review this due to some concerns that were
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  raised about some situations that were happening in the village last summer so I think the
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  basis of this is good and it's what we can work with.
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  Willis noted why she would be voting against the motion.
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  I can't support the motion because I think that there are too many details in this that
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  need some revision and I think our good intentions are going to leave us with a bit of a mess.
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  Contra Raja explained what would happen if council didn't accept the new bylaw before
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  2025.
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  If it's the intent of council to refer this back to staff for a second look what would
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  happen tomorrow is that we would open the refreshment vehicle applications under the
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  current bylaw and allocate the 2025 park permits through the current the existing bylaw and
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  then we would bring the second version of this draft to another meeting in 2025.
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  Senator Paul Praterick brought forth the motion and it was ultimately passed.
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  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted Evans.
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  This is North Shore News.